Laura Bennett   (Photo: Courtesy of Bravo)

Honorable Mentions
NBC’s Heroes brought salted-peanuts addictiveness back to TV. America Ferrera blossomed on Ugly Betty. Fox’s 24 topped itself with a ludicrous, addictive—luddictive?—fifth season. Fox’s Prison Break revived itself, thanks to Javert-like FBI agent William Fichtner. Speaking of Javert-like inspectors: Forest Whitaker as Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on The Shield. Rashida Jones provided Jim with an all-too-tempting alternative to Pam on The Office. Chloë Sevigny surprised as a priggish Mormon vixen on Big Love, while Michael Emerson slithered as villain Ben Linus on Lost. Martin Landau showed up the whippersnappers on Entourage. Laura Bennett, the candid, fecund, red-tressed Project Runway New Yorker, won our hearts, if not the show. With Weeds, Sleeper Cell, Brotherhood, and Dexter, Showtime out-HBOed HBO. L Speaking of Dexter: Michael C. Hall as TV’s most—well, only—sympathetic psychopath (sympopath?). Steven Weber and Amanda Peet on Studio 60.

Alec Baldwin   (Photo: Courtesy of NBC)

Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan on 30 Rock. The surprising, uncompromising Rescue Me. The sanity-preserving double dip of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Speaking of The Daily Show: new correspondent Rob Riggle. Speaking of correspondents: Rob Corddry’s sitcom The Winner, the funniest show you haven’t watched yet—expect Fox to premiere it mid-season. —Adam Sternbergh